Internal combustion engines have long been used in marine applications. However, use of a combustion engine in a marine setting presents unique problems. Specifically, it is undesirable to allow sea air, which contains moisture, salt and other contaminants into the engine. For this reason, engines for marine use are equipped with mist extractors which collect the moisture from the air before reaching the engine intake. Prior art mist extractors utilize a series of vanes positioned side by side, and placed in the intake air flow to collect moisture. The water drains by gravity to a trough and exits from the back or bottom of the mist extractor and is piped away.
However, it is not always desirable to have water draining from the back or bottom of the mist extractor for various design reasons such as space requirements, corrosion, etc.
Therefore, a mist extractor utilizing a frontal drain is desired. The frontal drain must filter air entering the drain, allow liquid to drain through the same opening and must impede air flow sufficiently so that bypass air entering through the drain will not reentrain liquid within the mist extractor.